This invention relates to fluid system quick connectors to connect a rigid tube to a flexible hose or other system component. More particularly, it relates to a quick connector that includes a mechanism for sensing conditions within the system.
Quick connectors are commonly used to provide a permanent but severable connection between a rigid tube and a flexible hose or other component. Such connections are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,161,832; 5,324,082; 5,423,577; 5,586,792; 5,626,371; 5,628,531; 5,863,077; 6,846,021 and U.S. Publication No. 2005/0218650, each of the subject matters of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Such quick connectors have wide application, but are particularly useful in vehicular fuel systems. Many such connectors are employed in the liquid and/or vapor lines that comprise the fuel system of modern automobile vehicles.
Evolution of modern day engine operation diagnostics and control has presented the need for monitoring operating conditions within the fuel system. Parameters such as fuel or vapor pressure, vacuum, temperature and the like must be sensed to provide inputs necessary to the diagnostic or control function. Introduction of separate sensing elements has multiplied the number of components within a given system and has added to the number of connections or possible leakage paths within a system. Alternatively, addition of sensing elements to components such as the fuel tank flange has complicated design requirements and increased cost.
The present invention provides a quick connector device that permits incorporation of system sensing elements into the connector body. The connector body includes an integrally formed housing defining a cavity or chamber with a removable cover for installation of a variety of mechanisms particularly sensing mechanisms. Within the scope of the invention the housing cavity can contain a wide variety of devices which may or may not be sensing mechanisms.
The connector body defines a portion of the fluid path within the system. A path in the body provides fluid communication from the fluid system to the chamber.
In the embodiments disclosed, a sensor within the housing, integral to the connector body, measures a value of the parameter being sensed and provides a signal indicative of the value. A receptacle receives an electrical plug that connects the sensor to signal receiving and processing circuitry.